The Chickadee Brain

Are you also the type of person who, in this age of information overload, tucks tidbits of interest into the files of your brain, intending to follow up on them later?   Only to forget until something occurs to jostle the memory files?    Maybe I need a brain more like that of the chickadee, expanding and contracting and adapting as needed by the season. 

So the black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) are back at the feeders, and so is my memory of  reading something extraordinary about the chickadee brain last year  and wanting to investigate.  Of all the wild birds that visit,  the chickadees seem to be the most fearless and friendly.  In fact, they’re often the only ones that aren’t afraid to approach even after I’ve appeared on the deck, pointing a camera at them.   Frustratingly, they are also among the quickest and most reluctant to pose. 

Research done by Professor Colin Saldanha, now at American University, showed that the chickadee’s brain can grow up to 30% larger during times when they need to find food for storage.  The brain is expanding, adding new nerve cells,  in order to help them remember the hundreds of hiding places where they’ve stored the food.  Then, in the spring, the brain shrinks back to normal size, when their memories are needed less.

Another study, done by Vladamir Pradosudov at University of Nevada in Reno showed that when birds live in harsher conditions, such as Alaska, they not only find more food than those in milder climates, but they’re better at finding their caches, have better spatial memories, and have larger brains than the same species in Colorado. 

I would never say that I want my brain to shrink, but wouldn’t mind being able to shed some of the mental baggage and unproductive ways of thinking that marked the past year.  Out with the old, in with the new!  Make room for more meshugaas!  

Wishing you an open-minded, peaceful and rejuvenating New Year.

My Black Friday Helper

Living so close to the second-largest mall in New York State just makes me want to hide in the house on Black Friday.  It’s hard for me to believe that people think it is fun to wait in line for a $12 popcorn popper.  An astonishing number of people even go on Thanksgiving night!    

After we spent Thanksgiving Day with our cousins in Brooklyn, they came and stayed with us here in Nyack for a couple of nights.  My 5-year-old niece Xeta and I spent much of Black Friday outside in the garden.  She helped me feed the chickens and rake leaves.    

Then she asked what we could plant.   All my flower bulbs and garlic were already in the ground, but it was such a beautiful day and I had such an enthusiastic helper.   The sun was shining and the temperature was in the low 60s.  We didn’t even have jackets on!  It definitely seemed like weather that could still germinate some cool weather crops, so we’re trying some kale, cabbage and lettuce.  I have a row cover that I’ll put over them and hope for a head start on some spring seedlings at the very least. 

One of the other fall projects that Xeta helped me with is building up the beds,  We put compost, chicken litter (wood shavings and chicken manure) and shredded leaves and grass on top of the vegetable beds.  Throughout the winter, the mixture breaks down and in the spring the beds are fertile and ready for planting. 

I can't believe this is my 400th post on this blog.  I started it in 2008 and still have ton of tons of things to write about -- the problem is finding the time.  When I look at my first blog post...oh my lord ....it was so pathetic...  I'm grateful for all the friends I've made through this blog, around the world and locally and hope to continue to write about everything under the sun. 

Fall Update: Hurricane, Harvest and Hen Hierarchy

Now that Hurricane Sandy has passed, life is finally getting back to normal.  Our area was hit hard, but we were lucky – just a few tree limbs down and power disrupted for 5 days.  School was cancelled all last week and again Monday  – this made my kids very happy until they were reminded that they may still be attending in July to make up the extra days.  We’re still waiting in line for gas, but it seems like a small thing to endure when others in the NYC area are contending with such major losses.  There are at least 30,000 newly homeless in NYC right now and people are still having trouble getting around. We count our blessings with every news bulletin.

This was the last weekend for the community garden – everything needed to be out of the plots Nov. 4. I harvested lots of fennel, savoy cabbage, beets, Brussels sprouts, radishes, kale, lettuce, parsley and dill.  Plus a nice bunch of very fragrant sage given to me by a neighbor.     

I’m hoping some it holds out til Thanksgiving. 

An experiment – I took the fennel roots, cut the stalks, and replanted them in my perennial bed.  Since it’s one of the hardier vegetables, I’m hoping to get a head start on some for next spring.  German hardneck garlic and tulip bulbs were also planted this weekend. 

I don’t believe I’ve introduced you to my three new white chickens.   I adopted them from a man who decided he didn’t want to keep them through the winter.  Since they were originally purchased to amuse his grandchildren, I thought it only appropriate to name them after the kids: Hayden, Allison and Kaitlynn.   

Don't ask me which is which!

I was a little anxious about how they’d get along with the four current residents, especially Harley, a bantam Silver Spangled Hamburg, whose head is often plucked bare of feathers by the bigger girls.  She tried so hard to assert herself.  She was the first to confront the new hens – she fluffed up her feathers and boldly attacked.  They weren’t afraid of her though, and she’s still the little picked-on, bullied runt around here. 

It’s especially sad that she seems to be exiled from the coop.  It's like she has cooties.  The six others will typically squeeze into one coop, leaving Harley alone in the other one – even though 4 is supposed to be the maximum in one coop.  Poor Harley.  (She’s named after Harley Quinn, of “Batman” fame.  Guess who named her!?)  I’m trying to think of ways to give her more status and some roommates.    

I was so happy about the election results!  But would love to know why Prop 37 was defeated in California!  I find it very surprising because I thought they would be more progressive.  I heard there were ads.  If anyone knows where I can see one of these opinion-swaying ads, please leave me a link.  To learn more about the campaign for GMO labeling, visit www.justlabelit.org.

Nyack is Now Zone 7a

I'm getting into my zone. My new USDA hardiness zone -- 7a.  

It was big news to gardeners when the USDA announced the changes in the plant hardiness zone map a couple of weeks ago.  The map serves as a guide for growers all over the continent, helping them figure out which plants might survive winter in their area, meaning they are “hardy.”    If a plant is “hardy to zone 6,” that means it will most likely not survive the winter in zones below 6 without some kind of protection. 

Here in Nyack, we are now zone 7a - Lucky number 7.  Just a little north of us, Bear Mountain is zone 6b, and Harriman State Park is mostly zone 6a.   So three zones are represented here in our little county.   Talk about microclimates!

Why get excited about a higher zone?  Well,  I went right to the catalogs to see what new things I could grow.   Here are a few things I might be trying for the first time this year.  

Arp Rosemary

From Richter's Herbs

This is the hardiest variety of rosemary available - able to withstand both cold and heat.  Rosemary prefers a sandier soil than I have, so I'll probably try it in a container where I can easily ammend it.  I've tried overwintering Rosemary inside many times with mixed success -- this will be different!

Agastasche

Anise Hyssop, which I've grown for a couple of years now, is a variety of Agastache.  Richter's Herbs has "Summer Fiesta" Agastache that I think would be beautiful in my sunny patch of perennials.  I've found that it easily reseeds, in fact, the Anise Hyssop borders on invasive -- wonder if this will too?

Conandria Fig (Ficus carica)

Edible Landscaping Online has a nice selection of figs.  I've had good luck with "Brown Turkey" and would like to try another lighter-colored variety.  This one is hardy in zones 7 - 9.  It's described as a "large yellow fig with a high sugar content."   Bill's Figs is another great source of fig trees in our area.

Canna

Cannas and Elephant Ears (Colocasia) - two plants that we've always been advised to dig up before a frost in zone 6a should be perennial with a layer of mulch in zone 7!  Maybe Gladiolus too!  We're inching toward tropical.

Society Garlic (Tulbaghia viola) - grown primarily as an ornamental, this chive relative has lavendar/pink flowers that smell like hyacinth.

Raja Puri Banana



From Willis Orchards

There are a few kinds of banana that are hardy in zone 7.  I'm only interested in ones that will fruit, and although many kinds don't produce fruit in colder climates, some people have had good results with Raja Puri.  It grows to 10-12 ft. tall and is stout and sturdy. 

Here, from Organic Gardening, is their suggested February To-Do List for Zone 7:

1) When you see the first crocus open, consider it time to set out transplants of lettuce, cabbages, and onions; cover them on cold nights.

2) In the garden, sow seeds of radishes and cold-hardy lettuces.

3) When daffodils "pop," plant seeds of spinach, turnips, and peas.

4) Cover the pea bed with clear plastic until sprouts begin to emerge; then, immediately switch to a floating row cover to protect the seedlings from weather and birds.

5) Start herb seeds indoors under lights.

6) Also indoors, start seeds of annual flowers—such as ageratum, petunia, and snapdragons—that need 8 to 10 weeks to reach transplant size.

Did your zone change?  Find out by clicking on this link.  Have you grown any of the plants above that I'm considering?  I'd love to hear your experience!

Leaving the Leaves

Did you know that there's a campaign underway to get us to stop raking up our leaves?  Rather, we're being encouraged to grind them into a finer mulch, or even just leave them where they are.  Ground up leaves that are mulched by a lawnmower are quicker to break down. They do wonders for the soil, adding organic matter, and helping replace what's lost through erosion. When left in garden beds, they protect roots and help retain moisture.

If enough people comply, municipalities will spend less time collecting and processing leaves, which saves them money.  See the video below that features Ann Holmes from the Greenburgh Nature Center in Westchester County.

With more than 50 trees on our property, the leaves piled up fast.  You can see that where the lawn ends, and the tree line begins, the leaves are at least a foot deep.

Here are some things I'm trying with my leaves this year...

The leaves are not being raked out of the beds until spring.  They're being left in place to protect the plants from winter abuse. 

They're just being left on the floor of the wooded areas.

We've created a pile behind the compost bin that we'll use to "feed" the compost throughout the year.  After food scraps or grass clippings are added to the bin, we'll throw in a few handfuls of leaves for good measure. 

The leaves on the lawn are being mowed over and ground up, then collected to be worked into the vegetable beds.

They're also being used in combination with wood shavings as litter in the chicken coops.  I think I'll try to use the ground up ones here in the future.


What do you do with your leaves?

More from Dr. Duncan Bell

Remember my friend who has the solar-powered, automatically-watered vegetables on raised platforms on his plot in our community garden? (If not, see my post of July 29.)   He started a blog about his gardening projects!  Among Dr. Duncan Bell’s other gardens are a spectacular patio flower bed planted in recycled containers, and watered via a timer attached to a toilet (see above), a basement seed-starter under fluorescent lights also watered via gravity and capillary action, a second vertical vegetable plot in his side yard, and another plot at his former offices that features vines . 

When he’s not gardening, he’s running the shows over at Elmwood Playhouse or working on robotics projects.  Looking forward to following his adventures!

Speaking of adventures, how did you survive the hurricanes? 

Dr. Duncan Bell's AutoGardens

Let the Good Temps Roll on Mardi Gras

It's Mardi Gras. Laissez les bon temps roulez today, and let the good temps roll in, too, please. It was down to freezing again last night. After a drenching weekend rain, the last of the ice in the yard finally melted, only to turn into frozen puddles today. On Friday, our afterschool gardening class planted some seeds in the greenhouse, but it seems it may not be warm enough for them to germinate.

On Monday morning I checked the temperature – 50 degrees, but quickly warming up.

The greenhouse temps are regulated by a less than reliable thermostat, fans, heaters

and a timer.

The weekend rain also filled up the rain barrell.

Just to be sure, I started a big flat of peas, so that the kids would have something to plant even if their seeds don’t germinate.  Wish us luck!

Here’s a little Professor Longhair, king of New Orleans piano, playing my very favorite Mardi Gras song, "Big Chief."

Ghosts of Snowmen Past

You won’t believe what my son said when I asked him if he wanted to go outside and make a snowman with me.  “Mom, I’m not three years old anymore!”  Oh yeah?  Since when did snowman building become exclusive to toddlers?   This guy in West Nyack is sculpting amazing giant colored fish for god’s sake! 

My kids loved making snowmen until just a few years ago.  Last year all they could muster was this mini picnic table model. 

2010

Previous years were more impressive....

2009

2008

2007 (this one, as I recall, was anatomically correct in places)

2006

                                                                                 2005

2004

So what are they doing this year?  Making igloos and tunnels. 

What started as a simple tunnel through the snow the plow piled up became a maze of tunnels complete with a central dome and windows. 

Are you still playing in the snow?



Really Missing Florida

Just when things start to melt and we think we can come up for air we get pounded again.  The photo to the right was taken on my phone on my way to work the other day. Pretty much sums up the lapses in sanitation, dirty snow, parking problems and general slogging of a typical commute. 

This is the time of year that I miss Florida the most.  It’s always fun to take off your boots only to step into a puddle of water from snow that has melted off of someone else’s boot a few feet away and have to change your socks.  Or to discover that your favorite boots won’t zip up anymore.  Or find  that your dog has decided that she doesn’t want to brave the deep snow and is doing her business on the deck instead.  And these are just the boot gripes!   I never even wore boots when I lived in Florida.

That is not to say that we are totally without beauty here in the Northeast. Sometimes the snow sticks and sometimes it sticks around. 

Each plant has a unique way of being enhanced by snowfall.

I like guessing what critters have been scooting across



Rabbit?



I can tell a stepping cat from a running cat. And a bluejay from a sparrow. 

A Fraidy Cat

And something did happen today that made me smile.  Stella laid her first egg!  A lovely rosey beige color.



Go Stella!

We also got our first egg from Goldi in almost 2 months.  So there may be more souffles in our future.  Since egg laying is dependent on the number of daylight hours, I wonder if the production surge has anything to do with it being Groundhog or Candlemas Day -- the day halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. 

I’m sure you have your own list of winter discontents.  Feel free to gripe in the comments section.